Catching Up

     It's been a while since I last posted and lots of things have happened.  The biggest thing is that Mort moved!  ACS purchased 32+ acres and built a brand new barn and indoor arena.  I'm much happier with the airy-er barn and bigger indoor (and future plans for a large outdoor).  Mort is much happier with grass pastures instead of dirt turnouts (I'm also happy about that).  For a little bit we had to wait on indoor footing so we were stuck riding outside in the grass.  We had some rain over the 4th of July weekend so he had a few days off to settle into his new digs.  After that we had to get back to work since July is a busy month for us. 

     Our first ride was Monday and it was in the grass area where the future outdoor will be.  For now it's just a mowed rectangle.  Mort was definitely up and distracted so it wasn't a wonderful ride but we got the first ride out of the way I guess.  Tuesday was only slightly better.  Mort doesn't misbehave after time off, but he doesn't work as hard either; he likes to test and see how lazy he can be.  By Thursday the footing had been delivered for the indoor so Mort and I tested it out.  He gave me some good trot work and some alright canter work.  He was still playing distracted pony while gates were being hung outside.  All this construction will probably be good for us to overcome any distractions we encounter at shows.  

     Friday I came out to swollen eyes.  I had taken Mort's fly mask home to wash it as it was starting to cause some balding around his ears with sweat and such.  Mort's eyes objected strongly.  Obviously I didn't ride him in this state because I know eye pain is rough.  I flushed his eyes and gave him a cool shower (because it's officially summer in Missouri and it's awful).  A group of us boarders went to celebrate the move with Mexican food and margaritas that evening so it wasn't a total wash. 

     Saturday morning showed no improvement in his eyes because while he had gone out with his fly mask he decided to take it off at some point in the night.  I had a clinic ride Sunday morning that I was now worried I wouldn't be able to attend so I started to think of people who would be interested in riding in our place.  Luckily all that worry wasn't necessary as when I went out Saturday evening Mort was all better.  Being inside with his fly mask on was all it took to reverse the irritation.*  

     I hopped on for a short ride of a million transitions to do my best to get us on track for our clinic ride without getting him tired.  He got to go out and graze for two hours while I cleaned stalls and tack.  I brought him in and fed everyone.  All the other ponies got to go outside for the night but I didn't want to risk another night of him losing his mask so the poor boy had to stay in after his bath.  Sunday morning his eyes were bright and clear and after feeding we headed out for our clinic.  I'll recap that in another post since this one is long already.  

*In case anyone wants to point out all the things I should have done:  We checked both eyes for ulcers with fluorescein dye and flushed them with saline.  They were showing no goop or extreme sensitivity, just puffy and sad.  I've also ordered another fly mask to rotate with so he should never have to go without again.